The Telangana High Court ordered authorities to provide a report on the encroachment of water sources

Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti, who make up the Telangana High Court’s division bench, sent notices to senior government officials on Thursday, instructing them to provide a report within four weeks regarding the state of the city’s ponds and lakes, which are deteriorating due to illegal construction, and the measures taken to protect the water bodies.

In a letter, Justice EV Venugopal cited a newspaper article that highlighted the danger that land grabpers were posing to the city’s water bodies as they were encroaching on ponds and building homes in Nalas.

After becoming aware of the problem, the division bench turned the report into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and requested comprehensive explanations of the steps taken by the government to protect water bodies and to stop illegal constructions from occurring, as well as statements from the chief secretary and principal secretaries of various departments, commissioners, and district collectors. The bench warned that if the respondent fails to provide a sufficient response within the allotted time, the high court may take additional action.